Some electronic devices such as diodes have been shown to exhibit a property referred to as Negative Differential Resistance (NDR). A device which exhibits NDR will experience a decrease in voltage with a rise in electric current at certain current levels. This is opposed to standard electronic devices which always experience an increase in voltage with an increase in current. A device which exhibits NDR can be used in a wide range of practical applications. One such application is an oscillator circuit.
An oscillator circuit is an electronic circuit which outputs a repetitive electronic signal. Oscillator circuits are used in a wide range of electronic circuit applications such as radio transmitters and clock signals. Oscillator circuits can be constructed through a variety of different methods. One type of oscillator circuit can be constructed using a device which exhibits NDR. Particularly, by applying a particular bias voltage to a device exhibiting NDR, an oscillating signal can be produced. Oscillator circuits which make use of NDR devices typically use devices such as tunnel diodes. However, such diode devices are static. Static devices cannot change their properties. Many electronic applications utilize various oscillating signals having different properties. To produce these different oscillating signals, many different oscillator circuits using different diode devices with different properties must be used.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.